Team Herald
PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar aims to decongest the capital city of Panjim by 2020 and make Patto the administrative headquarters of the state with most of the state government offices housed in the proposed administrative blocks.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of his visit to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), Parrikar said that the government would soon demolish the State Museum at Patto and reconstruct a multi-storey complex which will accommodate all the government offices.
“In the next two and a half years, Panjim will get decongested from unwarranted load of government offices and many government offices are being considered for shifting to Administrative Headquarters at Patto,” he said.
Stating that the process would commence after the monsoon session, which begins on Tuesday and will end on August 7, he said, nothing has been frozen as of now.
The basic planning like documentation, requirements and collection has already started, he said, adding that the tender for the museum building will be floated by October.
However, while all the other state government offices which directly do not concern the capital city will be shifted to Patto, the Chief Minister informed that the North Goa Collectorate would be shifted to Porvorim.
Providing details of the shifting process that would be carried out in the next two and a half years, Parrikar said the Maquinez Palace which houses the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) currently will be occupied by the artefacts of the State Museum, which are currently stored at Adil Shah Palace.
He further said ESG will function from the convention centre at Dona Paula, which will be set up to permanently hold the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), while Adil Shah Palace will be converted into an art gallery.
Stressing that the government was keen to hold the 50th edition of IFFI at Dona Paula convention centre, Parrikar underlined that the convention centre for IFFI would be developed on PPP mode, where ESG would also have necessary facilities.
Responding to a question on the need for a special task force for execution of all the projects, he emphasised that there was no need for a special task force and once decision was taken, various agencies would execute them.
“For example, Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) will complete the administrative building, Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has been given the task to complete the IFFI convention centre on behalf of ITG, among others,” he said.
